Judith 6

¹But when they had ceased speaking, it happened that Holofernes, being very indignant, said to Achior:

²“Because you have prophesied to us, saying that the people of Israel may be defended by their God, and so as to reveal to you that there is no God, except Nebuchadnezzar:

³when we will have struck them all as one man, then you also will pass away with them by the sword of the Assyrians, and all Israel will perish into perdition with you.

⁴And you will be shown that Nebuchadnezzar is the lord of the whole earth. And then, the sword of my army will pass through your sides, and, being stabbed, you will fall among the wounded of Israel, and you will breathe no longer, when you have been destroyed with them.

⁵And furthermore, if you consider your prophecy to be true, do not let your countenance fall, and let the paleness that has taken hold of your face depart from you, if you claim that these my words cannot be fulfilled.

⁶But so that you may know that you will experience these things together with them, behold, from this hour you will be associated with their people, so that, when they receive the punishment that they deserve from my sword, you will fall under the same vengeance.”

⁷Then Holofernes instructed his servants to apprehend Achior, and to lead him through to Bethulia, and to deliver him into the hands of the sons of Israel.

⁸And, taking him, the servants of Holofernes traveled through the plains. But when they approached close to the mountains, the slingers of stones went forth against them.

⁹Then, diverting by the side of the mountain, they tied Achior, hands and feet, to a tree, and so they abandoned him, bound with ropes, and they returned to their lord.

¹⁰Thereafter, the sons of Israel, descending from Bethulia, came to him. Releasing him, they brought him to Bethulia. And so, standing him in the midst of the people, they interrogated him as to what event caused the Assyrians to abandon him, bound.

¹¹In those days, the rulers of that place were Uzziah, the son of Micah of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris, also called Gothoniel.

¹²And so, in the midst of the elders and in the sight of everyone, Achior explained all that he had said in reply to the questioning of Holofernes, and in what manner the people of Holofernes wanted to have him killed because of this word,

¹³and how Holofernes himself, being angry, had ordered him to be handed over to the Israelites, for this reason: so that when he would prevail over the sons of Israel, then he would also command Achior himself to be executed by diverse torments, because he had said that the God of heaven is their defender.

¹⁴And when Achior had declared all these things, all the people fell on their faces, adoring the Lord, and, communing together with mourning and weeping, they poured out their prayers with one mind to the Lord,

¹⁵saying: “O Lord, God of heaven and earth, behold their arrogance, and gaze upon our humility, and attend to the face of your holy ones, and reveal that you do not abandon those who rely on you, and that those who rely on themselves and who glory in their own strength, you humble.”

¹⁶And so, when their weeping was ended, and the prayer of the people throughout the entire day was completed, they consoled Achior,

¹⁷saying: “The God of our fathers, whose power you have predicted, will give to you this in return: that you, instead, will see the destruction of them.

¹⁸Truly, when the Lord our God will give this freedom to his servants, may God also be with you in our midst, so that, just as it pleases you, everyone who is with you may keep company with us.”

¹⁹Then Uzziah, after the council was ended, received him into his own house, and he made him a great supper.

²⁰And all the elders were invited; together they refreshed themselves at the completion of their fast.

²¹In truth, after this, all the people were called together, and they prayed throughout the entire night within the assembly, petitioning help from the God of Israel.

Judith 6

¹And when the tumult of men that were about the council was ceased, Holofernes the chief captain of the army of Assur said unto Achior and all the Moabites before all the company of other nations,

²And who art thou, Achior, and the hirelings of Ephraim, that thou hast prophesied against us as to day, and hast said, that we should not make war with the people of Israel, because their God will defend them? and who is God but Nabuchodonosor?

³He will send his power, and will destroy them from the face of the earth, and their God shall not deliver them: but we his servants will destroy them as one man; for they are not able to sustain the power of our horses.

⁴For with them we will tread them under foot, and their mountains shall be drunken with their blood, and their fields shall be filled with their dead bodies, and their footsteps shall not be able to stand before us, for they shall utterly perish, saith king Nabuchodonosor, lord of all the earth: for he said, None of my words shall be in vain.

⁵And thou, Achior, an hireling of Ammon, which hast spoken these words in the day of thine iniquity, shalt see my face no more from this day, until I take vengeance of this nation that came out of Egypt.

⁶And then shall the sword of mine army, and the multitude of them that serve me, pass through thy sides, and thou shalt fall among their slain, when I return.

⁷Now therefore my servants shall bring thee back into the hill country, and shall set thee in one of the cities of the passages:

⁸And thou shalt not perish, till thou be destroyed with them.

⁹And if thou persuade thyself in thy mind that they shall be taken, let not thy countenance fall: I have spoken it, and none of my words shall be in vain.

¹⁰Then Holofernes commanded his servants, that waited in his tent, to take Achior, and bring him to Bethulia, and deliver him into the hands of the children of Israel.

¹¹So his servants took him, and brought him out of the camp into the plain, and they went from the midst of the plain into the hill country, and came unto the fountains that were under Bethulia.

¹²And when the men of the city saw them, they took up their weapons, and went out of the city to the top of the hill: and every man that used a sling kept them from coming up by casting of stones against them.

¹³Nevertheless having gotten privily under the hill, they bound Achior, and cast him down, and left him at the foot of the hill, and returned to their lord.

¹⁴But the Israelites descended from their city, and came unto him, and loosed him, and brought him to Bethulia, and presented him to the governors of the city:

¹⁵Which were in those days Ozias the son of Micha, of the tribe of Simeon, and Chabris the son of Gothoniel, and Charmis the son of Melchiel.

¹⁶And they called together all the ancients of the city, and all their youth ran together, and their women, to the assembly, and they set Achior in the midst of all their people. Then Ozias asked him of that which was done.

¹⁷And he answered and declared unto them the words of the council of Holofernes, and all the words that he had spoken in the midst of the princes of Assur, and whatsoever Holofernes had spoken proudly against the house of Israel.

¹⁸Then the people fell down and worshipped God, and cried unto God. saying,

¹⁹O Lord God of heaven, behold their pride, and pity the low estate of our nation, and look upon the face of those that are sanctified unto thee this day.

²⁰Then they comforted Achior, and praised him greatly.

²¹And Ozias took him out of the assembly unto his house, and made a feast to the elders; and they called on the God of Israel all that night for help.